The 2020 Badger Swine Symposium is scheduled for November 5 at UW-River Falls and will be held virtually.
Wisconsin may be known as the dairy state, but ties to swine production in Wisconsin run deep. Historically, immigrant populations demanded pork for the manufacture of sausage and other products, leading to as much as 80% of all Wisconsin farms having pigs on the farm in the early twentieth century. Pig farming looks different today with less total farms that have pigs on them, but raising pigs continues to be an important part of agriculture in Wisconsin.
Registration
The seventh annual Badger Swine Symposium is being held virtually Thursday, November 5, 2020. With the shift to virtual this year due to the pandemic, we are restructuring the program to run around the lunch hour from 12 pm to around 2:15 pm. The program is free to attend, but you must be registered by November 3. In acknowledgement of the change to format for the symposium this year, some research updates will be pre-recorded and available for viewing on Monday, November 2.
Pre-recorded sessions
Agenda and Speakers
The live portion of the symposium will kick off at 12 pm. The day will start off with a market update from Brenda Boetel, Professor and Agricultural Marketing Specialist with UW-River Falls. Following the market update will be a panel discussion of industry stakeholders on how COVID has affected their operations, markets, and management. To wrap up the discussion, Jeff Swenson of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, will talk about how Wisconsin has developed additional plans, resources, and community connections in response to the potential need to implement mass euthanasia of swine due to limited slaughter plant capacity. Please note that these live sessions are not being recorded.
Brenda Boetel
Brenda is an Extension Agricultural Marketing Specialist focusing in the areas of livestock marketing and price analysis. She joined UW-Extension in this new position in the Fall of 2002. In addition to her background in Agricultural and Applied Economics she has an interest in International Development.
Marc Malterer
Marc Malterer has been the owner of Cedar Road Meats that he purchased from his parents since 2014. Marc grew up on his parents’ hog and dairy farm prior to working in manufacturing overseas for a decade. Upon returning from Europe, Marc worked as a business consultant and manager at regional insurance company. Since taking over the family business in 2014, Cedar Road Meats obtained 2016 CIS approval which has allowed the business to grow due to working directly with customers requiring USDA approval. Marc has his MBA in Operations Management and his BA in International Relations and Italian from the University of Wisconsin.
Shannon Wolf
Shannon Wolf is a producer from Grant County. Shannon, his wife, Melissa, and mother, Kris Wolf, own and operate Wolf L&G Farms. Wolf L&G Farms consists of a 1,200 sow farrow to finish hog operation along with 1800 acres of crop ground which include corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. We also have a 300 beef cow herd. During a “typical” year, we sell 25,000 market hogs . During COVID, the Wolf’s utilized social media as an avenue to move hogs through the system when loads of hogs going to conventional plants were cancelled. Shannon will discuss their efforts to move hogs during this challenging time including their participation in the Passion for Pork program and efforts to keep their workers safe during these challenging times. Shannon and Melissa reside on their family operation with their three sons, Mitchel, Nolan and Ross.
Jeff Swenson
Jeff Swenson joined the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in November 2006 as an Economic Development Consultant specializing in livestock and meat. Jeff works within the Department’s Division of Agricultural Development. The division assists farmers and ag businesses to find ways to add value to their farm production, modernize and expand. His primary responsibilities are working with beef, pork and sheep producers as well as Wisconsin’s meat processing facilities. He is directly involved with outreach to Wisconsin’s livestock associations and agribusiness groups. Jeff is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His past experience includes working for Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, Semex Beef and the Sitel Corporation. Jeff grew up on a beef and dairy farm in southeast Minnesota.
Rebecca Slater
Becki Slater is the Emergency Response Coordinator for the Division of Animal Health, Wisconsin DATCP. She coordinates secure food supply and foreign animal disease outbreak planning, training and response. She serves in the roles of both Liaison Officer, Planning Section Chief on the DAH Incident Management Team (IMT). Becki is also a member of the Wisconsin All Hazards Type II, the Southwest All Hazards Regional Type III and the Southwest DNR Forestry Type III IMTs.
Additional Information
Additional speaker information, a registration brochure, and other details can be found at https://livestock.extension.wisc.edu/programs/badger-swine-symposium/. You may find the registration link here, or you can register directly at http://bit.ly/20BadgerSwine. This program is sponsored by the Animal and Food Science Department at UW-River Falls, School of Agriculture at UW-Platteville, Animal and Dairy Science Department at UW-Madison, the Extension Swine Team and the Wisconsin Pork Association.
